Writer and missionary, Margaret Wilhemina Wilson was born in Traer, Iowa on January 16, 1882 to West Wilson and Agnes (McCornack) Wilson. Her family moved to Chicago, Illinois when she was a teenager. She received an Associate degree (1903) and a B.Phil. (1904) from the University of Chicago. After graduation, Wilson became a missionary for the United Presbyterian Church of North America (1904) and served in the Punjab area of India. Due to ill health, she returned to the United States around 1910 and eventually resigned from her position (1916). When back in the United States, she attended the divinity school at the University of Chicago (1912-1914) and taught at West Pullman (Chicago) High School. While teaching she wrote many short stories which were published in various magazines, including the Atlantic Monthly and Harper's Weekly.

After her marriage to George Douglas Turner on December 24, 1923, Wilson moved to Oxford, England with Turner and began publishing novels, several of which received critical acclaim. Her writings covered topics such as India, religion, justice, human rights and feminism. Her first novel,The Able McLaughlins, received the Harper Prize in 1923 and the Pulitzer Prize for the Novel in 1924. The novel is set around the town where she was born (Traer, Iowa). She later published many other novels including The Kenworthys (1925), Daughters of India (1928), Trousers of Taffeta (1929), The Dark Duty (1931). Wilson died October 6, 1973.

This collection (1923, n.d.) contains Margaret Wilson's prize winning manuscript, The Able McLaughlins as well as The Kenworthys, another of her novels. Both the original typewritten pages and copies are included. The collection also holds two untitled manuscripts by Wilson, the first of which is about a woman named Isobel. All manuscripts are undated and the first untitled manuscript has no pagination. At the end of the collection, you will find an excerpt from the Dictionary of Literary Biography about Wilson and correspondence to Margaret from Harper and Brother's Publishers regarding her royalties and a deal to publish The Able McLaughlins.

Margaret Wilson was related to James A. "Tama Jim" Wilson, whose papers are also in Special Collections. See the James A. "Tama" Wilson Papers, RS 9/1/11.

The collection is organized alphabetically, with the manuscripts at the front and other materials at the end.